USS ''Hannibal'' (AG-1) was launched 9 March 1898 as the steamer ''Joseph Holland'' of London. The ship was laid down at as North Dock yard hull 143 for F. S. Holland, London, by J. Blumer & Company at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, England. Completion was in April 1898.The newly sold ''Hannibal'' is in the same register unde
Steamers "H"
On 16 April 1898 the ship was purchased by the United States Navy and renamed ''Hannibal''. She was one of the very few ships to serve in the U.S. Navy in the Spanish–American War, World War I and World War II. She was commissioned on 7 June 1898. During the Spanish–American War, ''Hannibal'' participated in the Puerto Rico Campaign. On one occasion she and three other US ships bombarded the Spanish positions at the

Battle of Fajardo The Battle of Fajardo was an engagement between the armed forces of the United States and Spain that occurred on the night of August 8–9, 1898 near the end of the Puerto Rican Campaign during the Spanish–American War. Background Proceeding ...

. The ship was awarded The Spanish Campaign Medal and her officers and men were issued the Spanish Campaign badge for 1898 service. From June 1898 – May 1908, ''Hannibal'' served in the Collier Service along the Atlantic coast. After an overhaul in 1908, she continued in the Collier Service with her base in New England for nearly three years. ''Hannibal'' was decommissioned on 15 August 1911. She was recommissioned on 16 October 1911 and was assigned to the U.S. Survey Squadron to make depth soundings and surveys in preparation for the opening of the Panama Canal. Hydrographic surveys continued in the

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until 1917, including operations in Panama, Nicaragua,

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, and Cuba. With the advent of World War I, ''Hannibal'' operated with the Patrol Force of the Atlantic Fleet. After an overhaul in early 1918, she became a tender to

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

s at

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, England. ''Hannibal'' served in English waters until December, when she sailed for the Azores via

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as a sub-chaser escort. In early 1919, she resumed sub-tender duties, and visited England, France, and Portugal returning to the United States in August escorting subchasers. The ship served in the Caribbean before lay up in mid-1919. ''Hannibal'' remained in reserve during which she was classified as a "miscellaneous auxiliary" in July 1920 with the hull number AG-1 at Philadelphia until 9 February 1921, when she sailed for Cuba to resume survey operations which lasted until 1930. During the next decade ''Hannibal'' surveyed waters near Trinidad, Venezuela,

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, and the

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. In 1933, ''Hannibal'' and were the first U.S. Navy vessels to collect dynamic sounding data in which depth and oceanographic data were collected in one sounding and analyzed aboard. After serving the U.S. Navy for 42 years, 28 of which had been dedicated to supporting the

U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), located at John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi, comprises approximately 1,000 civilian, military and contract personnel responsible for providing oceanographic products and services to all ...

, ''Hannibal'' was replaced by in 1940. p. 54 & p. 59 During World War II, she operated out of

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in the Chesapeake Bay degaussing range. ''Hannibal'' was decommissioned on 20 August 1944 and was sunk as a bombing target on 1 March 1945, in the Chesapeake Bay, just to the northwest of Smith Island, Maryland. A target hulk placed at the general location of ''Hannibal's'' sinking was referred to as ''Hannibal''. That target lasted 21 years before it was largely obliterated. In 1966, the Navy brought in a second target ship, the ''American Mariner'', a disused World War II Liberty ship, and sunk it next to the previous target. Although the ''American Mariner'' is currently the U.S. Navy's only active live-fire target ship in the Chesapeake Bay, by tradition it keeps the name of the original target ship on that site and is still referred to as the ''Hannibal''.

Awards

* Spanish Campaign Medal * Victory Medal * American Defense Service Medal * American Campaign Medal * World War II Victory Medal

Footnotes

References

External links

USS ''Hannibal'' (1898–1945, later AG-1)

* ttp://www.navsource.org/archives/09/49/49001.htm NavSource: USS ''Hannibal'' (AG-1) ex USS ''Hannibal'' (1898–1921)
Navy Survey Ship (AGS) Designator Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannibal Colliers of the United States Navy Survey ships of the United States Navy Ships built on the River Wear 1898 ships World War I auxiliary ships of the United States Maritime incidents in March 1945